176 USEFUL BIRDS. 
Red-breasted Nuthatch. Canada Nuthatch. 
Sitta canadensis. 
Length. — Four and one-half to nearly five inches. 
Adult Male.— Above, deep, bright bluish-gray; ‘chin and throat whitish; other 
lower parts rusty or deep buff; tail feathers marked with black and white; 
a white stripe above the eye, a broad black stripe through the eye, and a 
black crown. 
Adult Female. — Similar, but duller; the eye stripe dusky, and the crown lighter 
than that of the male. 
Nest and Eggs. — Much like those of the Chickadee. 
Season. — Resident, but local in the breeding season. 
This dainty little bird is considered rare in Massachusetts 
in the breeding season. While a few nest in suitable local- 
ities, the great majority retire to the northern wilderness 
in summer. From Octo- 
ber to April, however, it is 
quite common in this State 
during some seasons. It per- 
forms for the pines a similar 
service to that rendered by its 
larger relative among the decid- 
uous trees. It is almost constantly 
found in pine woods, and seems par- 
Pee en Terre ticularly fond of the pitch pine (Pinus 
Nuthatch, one-half natural rigida) 5 
me The common: notes of the bird are 
not unlike those of the White-breasted Nuthatch, but higher, 
sharper, and quicker. It has also a musical varied twitter, 
not mentioned in books, so far as I know, which can be heard 
but a few feet away. , 
It runs about much in the manner of the White-breasted 
Nuthatch, but is perhaps oftener seen beneatha limb. It 
sometimes feeds nearer the ends of the branches in winter, 
perhaps because it more commonly extracts the seeds from 
pine cones. It picks up corn wherever it can be found in 
winter, and I have watched it hiding the kernels behind 
scales of bark on the pitch pine, —a habit common to both 
Nuthatches and Titmice. A large majority of these birds 
go farther south than Massachusetts in winter, but many re- 
main wherever they can find pine seed, suitable insect food, 
